Pitt Drops in NET Rankings, Despite Win

The Pitt Panthers still dropped in the NET Rankings, even after a recent victory.
Jan 25, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Jeff Capel reacts against the Syracuse Orange during the second half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images
Jan 25, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Jeff Capel reacts against the Syracuse Orange during the second half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images / Rich Barnes-Imagn Images
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers ended a recent losing skid with a victory, but still dropped in the recent NET rankings.

The NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) uses a Team Value Index (TVI), that rewards teams for winning tough matches, especially away from home. It also uses an adjusted net efficiency that values facing tougher opponents, getting wins on the road and defeating lower-ranking opponents by large margins.

This replaced the RPI ahead of the 2018-19 season, as the NCAA wanted a way to simplify how they look at teams' performances heading into the NCAA Tournament. The RPI used five-components, compared to the NET's two.

The NET breaks down wins and losses in four quadrants, with the best wins are in Quad 1 and the worst losses are in Quad 4.

Quad 1
Home: 1-30
Netural: 1-50
Away: 1-75

Quad 2
Home: 31-75
Neutral: 51-100
Away: 76-135

Quad 3
Home: 76-160
Neutral: 101-200
Away: 136-240

Quad 4
Home: 161+
Neutral: 201+
Away: 241+

Pitt outlasted Syracuse on the road on Jan. 25, 77-73, for their first win in three weeks, ending a four-game losing streak.

They suffered a blowout 76-47 defeat to then ranked No. 4 Duke on the road on Jan. 7, a close 82-78 defeat to Louisville at home on Jan. 11, ending a 15-game winning streak at the Petersen Events Center, a road loss, 82-70 to Florida State on Jan. 15 and a loss at home to Clemson, 78-75 in overtime on Jan. 18.

Pitt earned just a Quad 3 road win vs. Syracuse (No. 147), which saw them drop down to No. 36 after the victory. They improved two spots to No. 34 the following day, still their lowest ranking of the season.

This is a 24 spot drop from the start of 2025 for Pitt, falling three spots to No. 13 after their 86-74 Quad 3 win over Cal (No. 116) on New Year's Day and moving down two spots to No. 15 after the 83-68 Quad 2 win over Stanford (No. 69) on Jan. 4, both home victories

The Panthers also dropped five spots from No. 15 to No. 20, following their defeat to the Blue Devils (No. 2), seven spots after their loss to the Cardinals (No. 25) to No. 27, four spots to No. 31 after their loss to the Seminoles (No. 75), and then two more spots following their defeat to the Tigers (No. 30) to No. 33, all Quad 1 defeats.

Pitt has one Quad 1 victory, their comeback 91-90 overtime road win over Ohio State (No. 29) on Nov. 29. They also have two other Quad 1 losses, coming vs. then ranked No. 19 Wisconsin (No. 18) in the Greenbrier Tip-Off Championship on Nov. 24, 81-75, and a 90-57 road blowout vs. Mississippi State (No. 21) on Dec. 4 in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

They have three Quad 2 victories, along with Stanford, which includes a blowout win over rival West Virginia (No. 43), 86-62 at home in the Backyard Brawl on Nov. 15 and win against LSU (No. 67) in the Greenbrier Tip-Off, 74-63 on Nov. 22

Pitt has two more Quad 3 wins as well, vs. Murray State (No. 140) at homeon Nov. 8, 83-68, and on the road vs. Virginia Tech (No. 187) in their ACC opener on Dec. 7, 64-59.

The five other victories they have are against Quad 4 teams. This includes Radford (No. 177) in the season opener on Nov. 4, 96-56, Gardner-Webb (No. 238) on Nov. 11, 83-64, VMI (No. 305) on Nov. 18, 93-48, Eastern Kentucky (No. 232) on Dec. 11, 96-56, and Sam Houston State (No. 203) on Dec. 21, 110-78.

They'll look to use their strong non-conference showing and get back to winning ways in the ACC, as they fight for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, after just missing out last season.

Pitt will have another tough matchup, as they face North Carolina at home on Jan. 28 at 9:00 p.m., a Quad 2 game.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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